ZPP Newsletter
Strasburg, 14th June 2018
The European Parliament voted against three mandates of the Committee on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) regarding reports on the posting of workers, driving and rest periods for drivers, and cabotage as part of the works on the Mobility Package at the Strasbourg plenary session
The mandates to negotiate with the Council were undermined for all TRAN reports adopted on 4th June this year by MEPs Wim van de Camp, Merja Kyllönen and Ismail Ertug on the market and social aspects of the Mobility Package – drivers’ working hours, transport posting, and market access.
One of the most important issues for Polish carriers and drivers accepted by TRAN on 4th June were the provisions on exclusion of international transit and transport from the PWD (Posting of Workers Directive). Today, during the plenary session, 343 MEPs voted against excluding international transport and transit from the rules and regulations of posting, while 263 were in favour. Of the 751 Members of the European Parliament, 630 took part in the vote.
“The undermining of three reports by MEPs Wim van de Camp, Merja Kyllönen and Ismail Ertug, democratically adopted in the TRAN Committee is bad news for at least several reasons, not only for European carriers, but also for drivers and consumers. The reports were a well-balanced compromise obtained after months of debates on the forum of the European Parliament,” commented Agata Boutanos from the Brussels Representatives Office of the Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers immediately after the vote.
The Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers actively cooperated over the last year with other trade organisations in the fields of logistics and transport, employers’ and carriers’ organisations of the European Union. We develop positions, organise events, and prepare information materials – including a brochure addressed yesterday to all 751 Members of the European Parliament convincing to support the mandate for three reports adopted ten days earlier by the TRAN Committee.
“It should be emphasised that, contrary to the assumptions of the MEPs who voted today probably in good faith against the exclusion of transit and international transport from the rules and regulations of posting, as well as the report on working and resting time, those will be drivers who might lose after this turn of events. The report offered a great deal of flexibility in the collection of rests at home, as well as transparent rules for remunerating drivers,” adds Agata Boutanos.
The possibility of submitting amendments to the reports has been opened. In line with the European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, amendments should be voted on during the next plenary session scheduled for July.
